Are sports slowly getting phased out?

Tuesday

Jan 22, 2013 at 2:24 PMJan 22, 2013 at 2:50 PM

When you look around the sports landscape in Ridgecrest and the surrounding areas, you will find a disturbing trend if you care about athletics.A lot of different sports in schools and in the area are disappearing.Silverado will likely be cutting two spring sports this school year due to budgetary reasons. Boys tennis and golf are two sports the Victor Valley Unified School District is looking to cut at Silverado, which would save about $22,000 according to reports from the Victor Valley Daily Press.Victor Valley will not compete in track and is evaluating whether or not to cut golf as well.There is an entire story about the two schools losing a couple of their sports programs by C.J. Daft of the Victor Valley Daily Press on the paper's website explaining what is going on at the two schools.

Brad KesterDI Sports

When you look around the sports landscape in Ridgecrest and the surrounding areas, you will find a disturbing trend if you care about athletics.A lot of different sports in schools and in the area are disappearing.Silverado will likely be cutting two spring sports this school year due to budgetary reasons. Boys tennis and golf are two sports the Victor Valley Unified School District is looking to cut at Silverado, which would save about $22,000 according to reports from the Victor Valley Daily Press.Victor Valley will not compete in track and is evaluating whether or not to cut golf as well.There is an entire story about the two schools losing a couple of their sports programs by C.J. Daft of the Victor Valley Daily Press on the paper's website explaining what is going on at the two schools.In Ridgecrest, the Kerr McGee Center won't have basketball anymore, the Parks and Recreation budget and man power continue to shrink, and the city council said it will close the pool in September.How do you go from looking at plans to remodel the pool area to completely cutting it?I think there is some cowardice is always wanting to "wait" to make a decision on moving forward with pool renovation until the time you can close it completely. That's pathetic. I've found that committees and commissions in this town do almost nothing but waste time.Committees and commissions alike will pat themselves on the back for actually making a decision once in a while though. Yippee for you guys for doing your job the way it's supposed to be done. It's a monumental day when you do. It may not be popular to say what you think about a certain project, but at least your honest rather than a two-faced hypocrite.My personal interest lies in basketball. I don't think kids here play enough basketball as it is before they get to high school, so they're always behind other high schools in game experience from the very start.Taking away another source of competition, team work and communication can't be good for the overall well being of the community.Living two hours away from bigger areas is a challenge in itself, so there has to be a way to compete here at a reasonable price.Maybe I'm just frustrated, I don't know. What I do know is that competition, a desire to improve weaknesses and just running around is healthy for all kids. However, things look bleaker by the day for athletics around this area. It's a harsh reality, but what are the solutions? Hopefully, a good one can be found soon.